The Tabernacle
Trying to choose just one focus verse for this article was difficult because the Tabernacle of the Old Testament is not a tiny project. God gives incredibly clear and specific instructions on its entire design, from the protective, outer badger skins to the intricate golden lampstands. Each and every piece of this project glorifies God in some way or another through its design, function, or purpose. And it is a fantastic thing to analyze as Christian creatives!
Why study the Tabernacle as Christians? Isn’t that Old Testament stuff related to the ceremonial laws and animal sacrifice?
Yes, it is Old Testament stuff; it was the place where the Israelites worshipped and sacrificed while in the wilderness out of Egypt. It was were God dwelt among them and gave them some of His proclamations. It was where the Levite priests worked and lived around. It served a specific, ceremonial and religious function that has become unnecessary since Jesus became our great High Priest and we are now indwelt with the Holy Spirit — in many ways we as individuals are now the Tabernacle.
However, that is just the religious and ceremonial side of things. The Tabernacle was — objectively — something else. It was a huge undertaking. It was a massive project that involved in some way every single Israelite, through either their donations (more commonly) or through their skills (less commonly). It was a creative endeavor that required craftsmanship, artistry, and engineering, to accomplish. It needed many gifted, talented, trained, and skilled people guided by the Holy Spirit to bring to life.
What can modern Christian creatives glean from this? Several things! But the primary one of interest is that God appreciates art (particularly when it is used for His glory). He could have made the Tabernacle a big, huge, boring square made of sad beige and plain wooden utensils. Instead, He specifically instructed the artisans to create works of art. To weave designs into the fabric, to mold and shape gold into specific imagery, and to include symbolism in each and every object involved in this project, from the Tabernacle itself to the ephod of the priests.
Think of it, He is the same God who created the sky which changes color every sunset and the same God who created the delicate, almost crystalline class wings on the dragonfly. He is not a boring, utilitarian God, but instead created all things beautiful, and allows us to do the same! How wonderful is that, in a world that tries to insist that art and beauty have no real place, that we know God not only creates beauty (butterfly wings, forests, oceans, people, etc.) but actively instructs us to do the same! How wonderful He is!
Putting it Into Action
Take some time and read through Exodus 26-28. Look at not only the function of each piece of the Tabernacle, but at the artistry and craftsmanship that went into it. Look up how to weave tapestry, how to cast lampstands, how to dye thread in red, blue, and purple, look up how to overlay gold onto wood. Study both the Tabernacle’s description AND the work that would have gone into each element of both the structure itself and the furniture within. Muse on God’s use of craftsmen and women to create works for His glory.
“Moreover, you shall make the tabernacle with ten curtains of fine twined linen and blue and purple and scarlet yarns; you shall make them with cherubim skillfully worked into them…”
